The Patriot Post Digest 1-9-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-9-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jan. 9, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

While Meryl Streep laments Hollywood’s victim status, Bernie Sanders gets it right.
Republicans are working on national concealed carry reciprocity.
Tom Cotton has taken the reins on immigration reform.
And more news, policy and opinion.

THE FOUNDATION

“Idleness and pride Tax with a heavier Hand than Kings and Parliaments. If we can get rid of the former, we may easily bear the Latter.” —Benjamin Franklin (1765)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Sanders, Not Streep, Actually Gets It1

Last night, one of the most privileged classes of American society gathered to celebrate its own greatness by giving its members awards at Hollywood’s annual Golden Globes. As is often the case with Hollywood elites, the leftist worldview reigns supreme, and there was a palpable anti-Trump vibe throughout the event. That culminated with Meryl Streep’s diatribe in which she declared Hollywood to be the true victim of Donald Trump’s election. In the classic manner of an elitist bully, Streep spoke from her leftist ivory tower with thinly veiled scorn against Trump without actually saying his name. Obviously, Streep sees that there is only one acceptable political perspective and no other views will be tolerated.

Clearly, much of America didn’t listen to preachy celebrities in deciding how to vote, and like all Democrats, much of Hollywood has yet to come to grips with the fact that they are not as relevant as they may have believed.

In one of the most disingenuous portions of her speech, Streep lectured, “Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.” So, who truly is the bully here, Ms. Streep? Ironically, if it is respect that she seeks, then disrespecting the views and opinions of others less privileged than herself seems a rather dubious manner by which to gain it.

Even septuagenarian socialist Bernie Sanders sees the problem, stating on Friday that the Democrats lost because they’re out of touch with much of America. “I happen to believe that the Democratic Party has been not doing a good job in terms of communicating with people in cities, in towns and in rural America — all over this country,” he said. “Look, you can’t simply go around to wealthy people’s homes raising money and expect to win elections. You’ve got to go out and mix it up and be with ordinary people.”

It’s as if the remark was pointed not just at Streep but Barack Obama, who celebrated the end of “eight great years” this past weekend with — what else — a White House party full of Hollywood celebrities2.

Leftist Hollywood elites along with Democrats who continue to bemoan the election results need to come to grips with the fact that Americans rejected what they were selling. Peddling worthless junk in a pretty box doesn’t make it any less garbage.

National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Coming Soon?3

In 1833, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story wrote4, “The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” Those words are every bit as true today.

That’s why it’s important that Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) has now introduced the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which requires states to recognize each other’s concealed carry firearm permits, though citizens must abide by the laws of whatever state they’re visiting. “Our Second Amendment right doesn’t disappear when we cross state lines, and this legislation guarantees that,” Hudson said in a statement. “The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 is a common sense solution to a problem too many Americans face. It will provide law-abiding citizens the right to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits.”

Conservatives are normally hesitant to create federal law that overrides state law. But in this case, it’s gun grabbers who are hiding behind the principle of federalism. We don’t believe states like Illinois, for example, are abiding by the Second Amendment, and many constitutionalists believe the Fourteenth Amendment “incorporates” all the Bill of Rights against the states. In other words, Illinois can’t infringe on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens or of the residents of other states whose concealed carry permits are void upon crossing its border. Several deep blue states — California, New York and Oregon among them — do not recognize any other state’s permit.

Consider a driver’s license, on the other hand. Any state’s driver’s license allows its holder to drive in any other state, subject to the laws of the state in which he or she is driving. Concealed carry reciprocity already works in a similar manner for states that allow it. It’s time a right actually enumerated in the Constitution worked the same way.

Top Headlines5

Senate looks to move fast on Trump cabinet hearings and ObamaCare. (The Wall Street Journal6)

Trump tells Obama’s ambassadors to leave by Inauguration Day. (Fox News7)

Declassified report: Putin ordered election interference. (The Hill8.) (Also see our analysis on why Putin punished Clinton: Hacking Trump’s Election.9)

Key Benghazi figure Ben Rhodes10 under congressional investigation for security concerns. (Washington Free Beacon11)

States with right-to-work laws, no income taxes grow fastest. (Washington Examiner12)

Obama leaves with dismal military approval. (Military Times13)

Terror in Fort Lauderdale: Suspect claimed government was forcing him to watch Islamic State videos. (The Washington Post14)

Federal worker union is blocking Republican VA reforms. (The Daily Signal15)

Alluring aroma of pork: Republicans poised to restart earmark factory in Congress. (The Washington Times16)

Confirmed: The Islamic State has a drone factory in Iraq. (The Weekly Standard17)

Policy: Republicans should rethink plans to privatize student lending. (Real Clear Education18.)

Policy: The Chicago torture video provides a close-up look at gang-centered criminal mayhem. (City Journal19)

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Tom Cotton Takes on Immigration — Illegal AND Legal20

By Arnold Ahlert

In a straightforward New York Times op-ed column21, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) made it clear that Donald Trump intends to make our immigration system work for the people most affected by the current chaos. “For too long, our immigration policy has skewed toward the interests of the wealthy and powerful: Employers get cheaper labor, and professionals get cheaper personal services like housekeeping,” Cotton states. “We now need an immigration policy that focuses less on the most powerful and more on everyone else.”

Cotton makes it clear that both illegal and legal immigration are part of the reform mix, noting that Trump “has a clear mandate not only to stop illegal immigration, but also to finally cut the generation-long influx of low-skilled immigrants that undermines American workers.”

There is a tepid move toward accommodating the new reality. Last Wednesday, co-sponsors Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced22 the “Protect and Grow American Jobs Act,” aimed at revamping the H-1B visa system American corporations have used to hire foreign workers willing to work for lower wages than their American counterparts.

The new proposal addresses a loophole created by Congress in 1998 when it simultaneously approved a visa cap increase, but prohibited American worker displacement if a firm employed 15% or more foreign workers. Congress also required companies to show “good faith” effort to hire American workers. But the bill undercut that effort: if a visa-holding foreign worker had a master’s degree, or was paid at least $60,000, he could replace an American employee. Issa’s bill raises the pay threshold to $100,000 indexed to inflation, and eliminates the master’s degree exemption completely.

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-9-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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The tepid aspect? There are three levels of H1-B workers, ranging from level 1 beginners to the level 3 prevailing wage earners this bill addresses. Yet those level 3 workers represent the 50th percentile of all workers — meaning plenty of the low-skill, low-wage workers Cotton wants to rein in remain unaffected by the legislation. During his campaign, Trump promised to take on companies “importing low-wage workers on H-1B visas to take jobs from young college-trained Americans.”

So what’s going on? Issa, et al, represent those interested in the appearance of H-1B visa reform. Trump wants genuine reform. How this ultimately plays out will be a great indication of who will prevail in a power struggle between Republicans who remain beholden to the wealthy and powerful, and a president-elect who has promised to drain the swamp and put Americans first.

Bet on Trump for the simplest of reasons: millions of Americans are fed up with the odious status quo, and this is his signature issue. He is not about to jeopardize his standing among the public to accommodate the Ruling Class aspirations of either party.

Cotton eviscerates that segment of the GOP and their industry allies who bemoan23 the shortage24 of low-skilled labor, and insist the problem can only be solved with immigrants. “These same industries contend that stricter immigration enforcement will further shrink the pool of workers and raise their wages,” Cotton states. “They argue that closing our borders to inexpensive foreign labor will force employers to add benefits and improve workplace conditions to attract and keep workers already here. I have an answer to these charges: Exactly.”

It’s critical to note that, for far too long, the game being played in Washington, DC, has been about tradeoffs. As columnist Mark Krikorian so aptly explains25, the GOP has used the “‘legal good/illegal bad’ fallacy” to champion a faux reform consisting of tough border enforcement “accompanied by support for huge increases in immigration.”

Why? Americans have heard it all before. Low-skill legal and illegal immigrants are purportedly26 doing the jobs “Americans refuse to do” which is partially true, and legal, higher skill immigrants are alleviating a shortage of American STEM workers, which is a bold-faced lie27.

With regard to the former assertion, one suspects a substantial majority of Americans would abide a pecking order consisting of hiring Americans who won’t refuse any job, followed by able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) being required to work as a condition of getting their welfare state benefits, with legal immigrants picking up the slack. With regard to the last group, putting some genuine teeth in Issa’s bill would be a great place to start.

“Our country, like any country, needs borders and must decide who and how many can cross those borders,” Cotton explains. “We must make this decision with the well-being of all our citizens in mind. Today, that means a large reduction in legal immigration and a reorientation toward ultra-high-skill immigrants.”

Unsurprisingly, Democrats will reflexively fight all of it, because their quest for unassailable power depends on massive levels of immigration by foreigners who heavily favor28 big government. Thus Trump and the GOP should expect the usual accusations of racism, xenophobia and heartlessness arising from the Democrat/Leftmedia complex.

Ignore them. From 1965 to the present, America abided a legal immigration policy that benefited the immigrant, not our nation. It also abided a virtual free-for-all with regard to illegals.

Putting America first29 isn’t racist, xenophobic or heartless. It’s common sense patriotism, and it’s about time that mindset had unabashed support from the White House and Congress, especially the GOP majority. If not? Bet on the 2018 mid-terms being another “drain the swamp” election — for recalcitrant GOPers.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

It’s Time for Trump to Undo Obama’s Regulations30 — What Obama did by the pen can die by the pen.
As Economy Improves, Unemployment Will Rise31 — It’s going to be really hard to improve upon “full employment.”
Trump’s Intelligence32 — His choice of DNI may quell fears that he’s too cozy with Russia.
‘Real Housewife’ Proves Second Amendment Matters33 — Kenya Moore pulled a gun to scare away three intruders.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Peggy Noonan: Make Inaugurals Dignified Again34
Jeff Jacoby: Barack Obama’s Legacy of Failure35
Burt Prelutsky: Paving the Road to Hell36

For more, visit Right Opinion37.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Burt Prelutsky: “I could almost feel sorry for Angela Merkel if only her good intentions hadn’t led so inevitably to the murders and rapes that have plagued Germany ever since Frau Merkel swung open her nation’s doors to 400,000 of the Islamic scum. Recently, there was an art contest in the Netherlands with the competitors asked to create a work that depicted the multiculturalism that has led to so much grief across the entire continent. The winning entry depicted a person identified as Europe standing next to a little tree called Islam. One end of a noose is tied around the man’s neck, the other end is connected to one of the tree’s limbs. The man is watering the tree. And Angela Merkel, I would suggest, is supplying the fertilizer.”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “We are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline.”

For the record: “We’ve known that Russia is a very sophisticated bad actor in the cyber realm. Many members of Congress, not just members of the House Intelligence Committee, have been warning the Obama administration about Russia’s continued cyberattacks on this country, and they did nothing.” —Rep. Devin Nunes

Delusions of grandeur, part I: “I don’t think I underestimated [Vladimir Putin], but I think that I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation, for cyber-hacking and so forth, to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating.” —Barack Obama

Delusions of grandeur, part II: “I am absolutely convinced that race relations on the whole are actually better now than they were 20 years [ago].” —Barack Obama

Demo-gogues: “I think [ObamaCare] will [survive]. It may be called something else. And as I said, I don’t mind. If in fact the Republicans make some modifications — some of which I may have been seeking previously, but they wouldn’t cooperate because they didn’t want to — make the system work, and relabel it as TrumpCare, I’m fine with that.” —Barack Obama

Non Compos Mentis: “The Affordable Care Act was passed not under reconciliation when it first came to the Congress. So the main part of the bill — House and Senate — was not under reconciliation. The final version, which was just some tweaks … were what were done under reconciliation.” —Nancy Pelosi insinuating ObamaCare was really bipartisan

Braying Jenny: “I really say to you, my friends in the press, with all due respect for the guardians of the First Amendment that you are, that you were accomplices in this. It was every single day you reported that there was an email that was embarrassing to the Clinton [campaign] without saying, ‘We know this because of disruption by a foreign power into our electoral system.’ You knew that. You knew it was the Russians.” —Nancy Pelosi

And last… “Obama would’ve done more to stop Russia from interfering in our election, but he was too busy interfering in the Israel and British elections.” —Twitter satirist @weknowwhatsbest

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.